What If
by The Weasley Witch
Summary: What if Harry had been sorted into Slytherin. How would it affect his time at Hogwarts and his friends.


**I DO NOT OWN HARRPY POTTER IN ANY WAY (Even though I wish I did)**

"Syltherin.' Yelled the Hat. Harry froze, shocked. Slytherin was only for evil wizards, that was what Ron had said. Was he contemplated this as he walked towards the Slytherin table. He could hear all the muttering and whispers around the room and he knew that by tomorrow everyone would think he was a Dark Wizard.

When he looked at the staff table he could see Dumbledore looking worried and talking to another teacher who was frowning. A greasy haired man was staring at him with a surprised and calculating look in his eyes. Harry sat down next to Draco Malfoy and Professor McGonagall read the next name on her list but the whispering didn't stop. All around him people were craning their necks to get a better look at him.

Harry shook hand with a pretty girl named Daphne Greengrass and was about to start a conversation with her when Malfoy began to talk to him.

"Hello Potter." Smirked Malfoy. "I see that the hat knows you better than you know yourself. So I'll forgive you this once and give you a chance to be my friend. But be warned this is your final chance. So think carefully about what you do next."

Harry realised pretty quickly that Malfoy would either be his friend or his enemy and since they were in the same house, and Malfoy seemed to have a lot of influence over everyone else, that he should be Malfoy's friend so he shook Malfoy's outstretched hand slowly. Malfoy smiled with glee and Harry's lips twitched.

"Who do you live with Harry?" Draco asked slowly, as if he were wondering if he should bring it up.

"I live with my Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley. They're muggles."

"They must be horrid. You looked like you were eating a vomit flavoured jellybean when you mention them."

"They fear magic and hate me because I have it."

"Did you learn any magic before you came to Hogwarts?" Asked Malfoy.

"I performed accidental magic a lot if that's what you mean. This summer I spoke to a snake and then accidentally made the glass between me and it vanish so that it could escape."

"You can talk to snakes?" Malfoy looked enviously at Harry.

"Yeah, but isn't it really common?"

"Harry. Practically no one can talk to snakes. Salazar Slytherin could, that's why the animal of Slytherin is a snake but apart from that I can't recall anyone else who could do that apart from the heir of Slytherin."

Harry was about to ask Malfoy if being able to speak to snakes was a good thing when Dumbledore stood to speak.

"Welcome!" he said, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you"

He sat down smiling but his eyes weren't twinkling and there was a worried expression hidden behind his smile.

"Is he mad?" Harry asked Draco as he stared at Dumbledore.

"Probably, would you like any food Harry?"

Harry looked at the table, shocked when he saw all the food. "Where did all the food come from?" He asked Draco.

Draco laughed, "You do have a lot to learn but don't worry I'll teach you everything you need to know."

Harry turned to smile at Draco, "You will?"

"Of course." Draco replied, "Us Slytherin's have to stick together. I'll explain everything tonight in the dorm."

Harry smiled at Draco and began tucking into the food on the table. When Ron had told him the Slytherin's were evil he had believed Ron straight away but now he was beginning to wonder if that was actually true. After all they had all be nothing but nice to him so far.

During the meal Draco introduced Harry to several people at the table who all had very famous or influential parents as far as Harry could tell. Draco also began teaching Harry a bit about each subject he would be taking and who was teaching it, explaining that most wizard families starting tutoring their children when they were much younger.

"See the man with black hair?" Said Malfoy, pointing at the greasy haired teacher, "That's Professor Severus Snape, he teaches potions and is head of Slytherin. My father speaks very highly of him."

"What's he like? Is he strict or soft?" Asked Harry.

"He's absolutely terrifying in lesson, or at least to the other houses he is. People tend to discriminate against Slytherin's so he's always really nice to us. I'll explain all about it in the dorm later." Malfoy said before changing the topic onto Madame Hooch, the Hogwarts flying instructor. They finished the meal in piece, Malfoy spent most of it explaining to Harry what Quidditch was. Then he moved on to discussing brooms with Harry, another conversation that Harry could not contribute in but still enjoyed.

Dumbledore stood up again at the end of the meal and began talking. Harry watched him closely as he spoke, realizing that Dumbledore would frown his way every so often.

As they concluded the evening with a song Harry looked around smiling. He knew already that he was going to love Hogwarts

Harry and Draco spent the walking to the common room discussing Diagon Alley, a conversation which Harry enjoyed almost as much as the one about Quidditch.

Harry gasped as he entered the common room. It was a dungeon like room with glowing green lamps and emerald chairs. The prefect explained that the common room was partway under the lake, explaining the greenish tinge in the room. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. It has quite a grand atmosphere but Harry felt very comfortable. On the noticeboard was the password to the common room. The noticeboard was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins.

The prefect then showed them the dorm room which was completely decked out in green and silver. Harry was sharing the room with Draco, Theodore Nott, Crabbe and Goyle and Blaise Zabini.

Harry and Draco choose beds, in the middle of the circular room, that were next to each other. On Harry's right side was Theodore Nott, a small but sweet looking boy. Harry started to unpack before looking up and seeing that all the boys had surrounded him.

"Whats wrong?" Harry asked, a little bit scared.

"Relax." Draco smiled and all the other boys started laughing at the expression on Harry's face, "We thought now would be a good time to explain everything that no one but the Slytherin's know."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"I'll start." Draco said and he began talking rather nervously, "You see our parent expect us to act and behave a certain way in a manner which suits a pure blood family. It means that we have to be very careful what we say and do around other people. For example I am not allowed to talk to a muggle born unless I am insulting it or have to. The sane goes for everyone else in this room. It's one of the things that makes the other houses hate us even though we don't mean to be rude."

"But why do you have to follow your parent orders when they're not around to see what you do?" Harry asked.

"They have house elves shadowing us at all times apart from when we're in the Slytherin common room or with a teacher. The house elves then report back to out parents and if we haven't behaved exactly how we were supposed to then we learn the hard way that we have to obey them."

Harry understood the implied meaning of Draco's words instantly, having been threatened in the exact same way by the Dursley's. He nodded to Draco, to show he understood everything.

"You said it is one of the reasons the other houses hate us. What are the other reasons?" Harry asked.

"One is because of being pure bloods and acting like we believe exactly what our parents do. Another reason is that our house is known for being evil. Salazar Slytherin left the school after all and He Who Must Not Be Named was in this house. The other houses refuse to see anything but bad in us and because of this we are treated like outsiders. Even most of the staff discriminates against us, you saw Dumbledore's face when you got sorted into Slytherin. He was furious, he looked as though he was about to tell you to go and sit with the Gryffindor's before McGonagall shook her head at him. Everyone hates Slytherin and that hatred is past down from parent to child so that every child raised hates us."

The rest of the evening was spent talking about what it meant to be a pure blood and how you had to act in public which Harry found very interesting.

That night as he lay in bed, half asleep, all he could think about was how glad he was that he'd been sorted into Slytherin. If he had been put in any of the other houses he probably would've spent the next seven years hating the Slytherins when they were actually really nice.

**Sorry this chapter was so short I promise I'll write a lot more on the next one **

**Please review**


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